1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hairdryer used for drying or setting hair by blowing warm blast and cold blast, and especially relates to an electrostatic atomizing hairdryer which can perform treatment of hair by emitting jet of mist electrostatically atomized, and relates to an electrostatic atomizer for generating mist by electrostatically atomizing a liquid.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrostatic atomization technique to let water of form of minute mist (hereinafter, it is called “mist”) scatter by applying high voltage on feed water field member as a capillary tube is conventionally known. For example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-151146, this electrostatic atomization technique is applied to a hairdryer to obtain advantageous effects for improving moisture-holding characteristic of hair and giving hair gathered up feeling and shine by spraying mist to hair.
In the conventional electrostatic atomizing hairdryer described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-151146, the electrostatic atomizer, however, is provided on outside of a main body of the hairdryer, so that the mist cannot be scattered effectively into airflow emitted from the main body of the hairdryer, and it is difficult to spray the mist to hair evenly in a short time. Therefore, a time necessary for treatment of hair becomes longer, and overdrying of hair may occur partially.
On the other hand, in an electrostatic atomizer for generating electrostatically atomized mist described in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-85185, high voltage is applied between an atomizing electrode and an opposing electrode so as to generate Rayleigh disrupture in water at front end of the atomizing electrode. The water repeats the disrupture with receiving large energy due to high voltage, so that mist of nanometer size with activated species of high reactivity is generated. Room air or incrustation on an indoor wall surface can be deodorized by such mist.
In order to scatter the mist effectively, an airflow path comprising a blower is provided in the electrostatic atomizer. The atomizing electrode and the opposing electrode are arranged in the airflow path, so that the mist is scattered with the airflow. In such a case, it is necessary to contain the atomizing electrode and the opposing electrode in a housing for electrostatic atomization to prevent that the liquid at the front end of the atomizing electrode is exposed to airflow in the airflow path directly and is evaporated. In addition, the electrostatically atomized mist generated at the front end of the atomizing electrode is moved toward the opposing electrode by electrostatic force, so that a mist emitting opening from which the mist is emitted to outside of the housing for electrostatic atomization is provided in the vicinity of the opposing electrode.
The mist, however, cannot be emitted efficiently from the mist emitting opening of the housing for electrostatic atomization even though the housing for electrostatic atomization is merely provided in the airflow path. Thus, the mist may stay in the housing for electrostatic atomization, or be adsorbed to the opposing electrode by electrostatic force. Furthermore, when a quantity of liquid which is to be electrostatically atomized is increased to increase a quantity of scattered mist, not only consumption of the liquid and electric power increase, but also a quantity of ozone which is a vice-product increases. Still furthermore, when a nozzle is provided for scattering the mist, it causes the upsizing and the increase of cost of the apparatus.